December 2014

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 dec 2014

Nonprofit funds are often acquired through donations, grants, fundraising, endowments, membership, and program fees and services. Although there are differences in nonprofit and for-profit models but success of both depends on similar operational effectiveness. Nonprofit leaders should follow the art of risk taking and strategic innovation that entrepreneurs follow to be successful. Professor Emad Rahim of Bellevue University suggests the following five key elements that nonprofit leaders should consider to operate like a startup - (1) A Nonprofit is a company (2) Operating effectiveness is essential (3) Donors are essentially customers (4) Good publicity can boost donations (5) A nonprofit has competitors. Read on...

Forbes: 5 Competitive Advantages To Help Nonprofits Think Like Entrepreneurs
Author: Emad Rahim

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 30 dec 2014

User Interface (UI) design is undergoing innovative evolutions and providing effective and efficient machine interactions with humans and better control. In 2014, mobile software tried to balance simplicity and power, connected and networked devices worked more harmoniously with other machines and devices, and touchscreens seemed to have their limitations. Following are some of the best UI design ideas of 2014 - (1) Lollipop's Lock Screen Notifications (Google's Material Design concept) (2) Texting From Everywhere (3) A Smart Touchscreen for Cars (4) Physical Interfaces for Flickr and Google Street View (5) The Death of "Shake to Send Feedback" in Google Maps (6) Inbox Makes Email Saner (7) Instant Hotspot, the Unsung Hero of Continuity (8) A Key Rack That Bugs You Into Doing Good (9) The Rise of TouchID. Read on...

WIRED: This Year's 8 Smartest UI Design Ideas
Author: Kyle Vanhemert

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 18 dec 2014

Maturing social business and evolving enterprise social networks will transform the way employees, customers and partners connect, work and collaborate with each other. Trey Tramonte, President & CEO of Bloomfire, provides following 10 predictions for enterprise collaboration for 2015 - (1) Analytics will drive increased investment in enterprise collaboration. (2) Rise of personal analytics. (3) Gamification will invade the enterprise. (4) File sharing will become an integration point, not a destination. (5) Mobile will evolve from "urgent" to integrated part of the daily workflow. (6) Multi-media content will become table stakes. (7) Small is the new big. Testing specific use cases in select teams and then implement throughout the organization. (8) Service providers will build new revenue channels around knowledge management platforms. (9) Learning Management Systems solutions will lose market share to enterprise collaboration platforms. (10) Nonprofits will follow the Pinterest approach. Read on...

Business 2 Community: 10 Predictions for Enterprise Collaboration in 2015
Author: Trey Tramonte

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 13 dec 2014

At EDUCAUSE2014 in October, Professor Clayton Christensen of Harvard University mentioned that higher education is poised for massive disruption as a result of new offerings in online learning. The MOOCs phenomenon, advancements in Learning Management Systems, Cloud-based and mobile technologies etc are some of the factors facilitating the transformation in online education and learning landscape. Although the debates regarding the success of online-only learning and education still continues with educators evaluating its outcomes and comparing it with traditional college and university education. But one thing is commonly agreed upon and that is education technology is here to stay. Moreover there are advocates of technology enhanced blended learning. Latest infographic by TalentLMS, a cloud-based learning management system, provides in detail 10 eLearning trends for 2015 - (1) Big Data: Numbers in eLearning are becoming so large that processing user generated data using traditional methods is becoming impossible. (2) Gamification: It is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their learning goals. Gamification taps into the basic desires and needs of the user, focusing on impulses which revolve around the ideas of Status and Achievement. (3) Personalization: It is the tailoring of pedagogy, curriculum and learning environments to meet the needs and aspirations of individual learners. (4) M-Learning: As mobile use continues to grow, it will become the dominant medium for offering learning materials. (5) Focus on Return-on-Investment: ROI compares the investment in training deliverable with the benefits over a specified period of time. Despite the traditional difficulties of calculating ROI, its importance will rise, as it provides a strong argument in favor of eLearning. (6) Application Programming Interfaces: API is basically the way applications communicate with each other. The widely accepted SCORM and Tin Can are two examples of APIs in eLearning. Systems like Zapier, offer non-programmable ways to integrate APIs between services and achieve desired effects. (7) Automation: Content creation is a tedious and time consuming process. If we could somehow automate the process of content creation then we could potentially create a revolution in the quantity and quality of online courses. (8) Augmented Learning: It is an on-demand learning technique where the environment adapts to the learner. Augmented Reality market is expected to grow significantly from 60 million users in 2013 to 200 million in 2018. (9) Corporate Massive Open Online Courses: MOOCs are courses for large number of users. MOOCs are often used by universities. In the last few years MOOCs have been getting more popular among companies and organizations. (10) Rise of Cloud Learning Management Systems: Despite speculations about the death of LMS, last years showed continued growth in the industry. Forecast of 2015 predict that it will continue to grow. Out of all learning sytems, cloud-based platforms had the highest growth in the last two years. Read on...

EdTech: 10 Online Learning Trends to Watch in 2015 (Infographic)
Author: D. Frank Smith

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 dec 2014

Internet of Things (IoT) promises to bring diverse set of smart devices together through seamless network technologies and provide human-centered connected solutions. Home hubs are being launched in the market to sync everything from refrigerators to air conditioners to locks. But most homes are not yet ready with enough smart devices, although near future will see the growth of such connectivity and numerous possibilities resulting from smart homes. Roberta Gamble, Vice President of Frost & Sullivan Energy & Environment, predicts that telehealth will see a big surge in the market. Telehealth connects doctors and patients through use of technology. According to Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio, by 2015 Americans over the age of 65 will outnumber children under five. The aging baby boomer population will increase the demand for home gadgets for elderly care. The health, safety and independence of this population will encourage innovations and developments towards smart homes. Read on...

Digital Trends: THE SMART HOME OF THE FUTURE WILL BE ALL ABOUT TELEHEALTH, SO WHAT IS THAT?
Author: Jenny McGrath

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 08 dec 2014

Employee turnover can be reduced by making employees happy and engaged. It's a challenging but manageable task if leaders and businesses have right information and knowledge regarding the present state of employee engagement. Jeff Fermin, Cofounder of Officevibe, provides 13 disturbing facts about employee engagement - (1) 88% of employees don't have passion for their work. (2) Only 20% of senior managers are passionate about their work. (3) Employee Disengagement Is Costing The US $500 Billion Per Year. (4) 57% of interruptions at work come from either social media tools or switching between applications. (5) Employees working in government reported the lowest rate of engagement. (6) 86% of businesses and HR leaders believe they don't have an adequate leadership pipeline. (7) 79% believe they have a significant employee retention and engagement problem. (8) 75% are struggling to attract and recruiting the top people they need. (9) Only 17% feel they have a compelling and engaging employment brand. (10) Only 6% believe their current process for managing performance is worth the time. (11) 2/3 of today's employees feel "overwhelmed". (12) 50% of adults work more than 40 hours per week. (13) 80% would like to work fewer hours. Read on...

Huffington Post: 13 Disturbing Facts About Employee Engagement
Author: Jeff Fermin

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 08 dec 2014

Employee disengagement is a critical issue that businesses face and leads to millions of dollars in losses for them every year. People leave employers because their jobs and work environment don't fulfill their needs. Dr. Abraham Harold Maslow developed 'Hierarchy of Needs' and defined five innate human needs in a priority-based pyramidal form with growing levels of needs and expectations according to what needs are already fulfilled. Jordi Alemany, Founder of Key Strategic Chain Solutions LLC, built upon Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs model and developed a basic tool termed as 'The Employee Engagement Pyramid' - Level 1: Monetary compensation (Engagement driver- Salary); Level 2: Safety & stability (Engagement drivers- Benefit programs like medical care, pension schemes etc); Level 3: Sense of belonging (Engagement drivers- Career development programs. Project team assignments); Level 4: Esteem & recognition (Engagement drivers- Reward programs, talent retention programs, succession plans); Level 5: Self-actualization (Engagement drivers- Opportunity to create the future. Innovation projects. Thinking roles). Businesses have to create work environment, develop policies and establish business norms, that enable employees to evolve and transition to higher levels in the engagement pyramid, for successful retention and save employee attrition costs. Read on...

Linkedin Pulse: The Employee Engagement Pyramid
Author: Jordi Alemany

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 07 dec 2014

Empowerment equips people with the ability to make decisions, take initiative and perform actions that lead to desired outcomes for the organization. Effective leadership enables and inspires people to achieve goals for the organization. Leadership, empowerment and organizational success are interconnected. According to Gallup research, organizations that empower their employees experience 50 percent higher customer loyalty. Leaders must give their people optimal level of freedom within the framework of organizational rules and objectives to perform their work. They should avoid micromanagement of the tasks delegated to the employees. Moreover managers should make sure that they remove impediments and hurdles that may arise while their subordinates perform their duties. Frequent communication exchange is necessary between the managers and employees and every interaction should provide employee with motivation and enhanced energy to perform better. In an empowered organization, people work collaboratively towards common goals and hold each other accountable. Read on...

The Business Journals: Why employee empowerment can lead the way to greater business success
Author: Art Johnson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 07 dec 2014

Businesses, big or small, need to continuously evolve their strategies to stay competitive and succeed in the dynamic marketplace. Matt Mayberry, Professional Speaker & Performance Strategist, provides four simple strategies to improve their success rate - (1) Professional development: Adopt continuous learning approach and research about the market, customers, competitors etc. (2) High quality products/services: Provide quality at competitive prices. (3) Customer value: Keep adding value in the lives of customers and provide best solutions. (4) Serve over everything: Inculcate a 'serving' attitude and listen to your customers well. Read on...

Entrepreneur: 4 Simple Strategies to Improve Your Business Success Rate
Author: Matt Mayberry

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 06 dec 2014

Without customers there is no business. Without happy customers the business will not last long. So what should companies do to know their customers and provide solutions to them in the best possible way, keep them satisfied and happy, and let them come back again and again. JC Grubbs, CEO of DevMynd Software, explains of the efforts his team does to become subject matter expert's within a client's vertical and turns the vendor/customer relationship into a partnership. According to him, 'more than technology or even product design, the software business is about knowledge. It's about taking a problem space and synthesizing a solution from as much knowledge as we can obtain. It's essential to our success with any customer that we get to know their industry, their business and the people involved.' He suggests five things that his company does to build knowledge around an industry and particularly in customer's business - (1) Ask Questions (2) Follow the Money (3) Understand Partnerships (4) Understand the End Customers (5) Investigate Competitors. Read on...

Upstart Business Journal: 5 ways to get to know your customers better
Author: JC Grubbs

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 dec 2014

Social media phenomenon has transformed the way individuals and businesses connect, interact and engage with their audiences and customers. The accelerating pace of change in social media is further enhancing its value and at the same time providing new challenges for companies to adapt to change and incorporate the latest tools to stay ahead. Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite, suggests the following 5 changes that will shape social media in 2015 - (1) Social media and e-commerce merge. (2) Social media privacy issues come to the fore. (3) Social media becomes your virtual wallet. (4) New networks come and new networks go. (5) Smart devices get smarter, with help from social media. Read on...

Financial Post: These 5 trends will change social media in 2015
Author: Ryan Holmes

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 dec 2014

In the technology-enabled world, businesses have to utilize latest technologies, systems and processes to stay ahead of the competition and satisfy their customers. Enterprise technologies that were successful in the past may not suffice in the future. Eric Knorr, Editor-in-Chief of InfoWorld, provides 9 trends in enterprise technology that will have an impact in 2015 and beyond - (1) The triumph of the public cloud. (2) Container madness. (3) Microservices architecture. (4) Liquid computing. (5) Multicloud management. (6) Endpoint security innovation. (7) Machine learning. (8) The return of devops. (9) The end of network switches. Open source is leading the way in most technology developments with startups bringing them to production for their customers and other developers see their value and start building ecosystem around the core projects like Docker, Hadoop, OpenStack etc. This model of open source development - collaborative, self-organized, and distributed - is starting to impact enterprise app dev and will be a trend to watch in the years to come. Read on...

InfoWorld: 9 key enterprise tech trends for 2015 and beyond
Author: Eric Knorr

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 04 dec 2014

In pursuit of success, entrepreneurs have to put in long hours of work and had to survive on little money. This may lead to adverse effects on their health and well being. Moreover even the hard work and sacrifices may not lead to success for most of them - 8 out of 10 entrepreneurial businesses crash and burn within the first 18 months. Kristopher B. Jones, a successful entrepreneur & mentor, suggests necessary qualities for entrepreneurial success - (1) Perseverance: Sustainable companies require patience & perseverance and are built over times. The success is not merely about having a big idea, its more about carefully, effectively and patiently executing it. Entrepreneurs need hard work, tenacity and true grit. (2) Optimism: Its a combination of confidence, hope and postivity. Entrepreneurs need to keep going to accomplish goals at every stage. (3) Decisiveness: Right decision-making is needed at the right moment. Don't dither and procrastinate and make speedy choices with objective reasoning. (4) Self-awareness: Know your strengths and weaknesses and be honest about them. Find good people to do the job that you can't do yourself well. (5) Motivation: Entrepreneurs are motivated by something bigger like contributing to society, impact people, solve an important problem or just change the world for better. (6) Focus: Key component of the enrepreneur mind-set and most challenging to implement. With information overload to distract entrepreneurs, they need to keep themselves focused on their one big idea and develop a plan to execute it step by step. Read on...

Forbes: The Dark Side Of The Moon: Why So Many Entrepreneurs Fail
Author: Kristopher B. Jones

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 04 dec 2014

'Meaningful use' section of the American Investment & Recovery Act of 2009 and provisions in the Affordable Care Act of 2010, required health providers to invest in patients' electronic health records and allow for electronic data reporting to the government. This prompted healthcare organizations in US to invest heavily on IT and created large amount of data that can be used to improve the quality of care, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce costs. But only few are doing it efficiently and effectively with the help of clinical business intelligence (CBI). CBI is an IT system that collects and analyzes data and delivers the results to frontline clinicians in real time, helping them to make better decisions. It can be used to keep clinicians informed about everything from infections and iatrogenic injuries (those caused unintentionally by physicians) to whether units are over- or understaffed. ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, an independent non-profit educational institute, has identified three key building blocks that are required to create and implement a CBI strategy - (1) Change leaders' mind-set: A sustainable, transparent, empowered, evidence-based culture supported by CBI is the end state. Getting there requires leaders to understand the need for information at the front line of care and to support efforts to provide it. (2) Standardize data: Organizations must create a centrally located area for storing data and develop standard definitions for variables and exclusions. (3) Build a culture of transparency: Create an environment where workers are empowered to identify and solve problems each day without manager intervention. Workers need leadership support, transparent work environments, and the essential data on defects, wait times, inventory etc. Read on...

Harvard Business Review: Hospitals Are Finally Starting to Put Real-Time Data to Use
Authors: Melissa Mannon, John S. Toussaint

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 01 dec 2014

Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and Internet Security Alliance (ISA), are organizations that have been working on issues of corporate governance related to cyber security. NACD and ISA recently published a report 'Cyber-Risk Oversight' in which they propose five key principles for boards in approaching cyber-risk - (1) Cyber-risk is more than just an IT issue: It is a key component of enterprise risk management, requiring board-level oversight. (2) Cyber risks have important legal ramifications, which directors need to understand. (3) Cyber-risk should be a topic of regular board discussion, and boards need access to the expertise to engage with cyber-risk issues. (4) Directors should ensure management implements an effective cyber-risk framework for the company. (5) The board and management should assess cyber-risk just like other enterprise-level risks: Ensuring a specific determination is made of which aspects of cyber-risk to accept, avoid, mitigate or insure against. The IIA and ISACA have built upon these five principles to provide well thought out implementation guidance in a publication titled 'Cybersecurity: What the Board of Directors Needs to Ask'. Moreover IIA and ISACA also suggest six questions boards should consider to prepare for discussions with management and audit. Read on...

CTOvision.com: Cyber Security and Corporate Governance: The five principles every corporate director should embody
Author: Bob Gourley